We need to meditate on what is peaceful. Once we have ‘filled up’ in this way, we once again have an abundance of love to send out into the world. ~ Jean Shinoda Bolen
I learned that the interior of life was as rewarding as the exterior of life, and that my richest moments occurred when I was absolutely still. ~Richard Bode
To be a soulful person means to go against all the pervasive, prove-yourself values of our culture and instead treasure what is unique and internal and valuable in yourself and your own personal evolution. ~ Jean Shinoda Bolen
អាជីវករលក់ក្ដាម អូសទ្រុងក្ដាមចេញពីសមុទ្រ នាក្រុងកែប ខេត្តកែប កាលពីថ្ងៃទី៥ ខែកញ្ញា ឆ្នាំ២០១៥។ Photo: RFA
Source: GaiamLife
Source: Xinhua | 2016-05-20 17:17:32 | Editor: ying
KANDAL, May 20, 2016 (Xinhua) — Photo taken on May 20, 2016 shows a golden urn containing relics of the Buddha at the Oudong Mountain in Kandal province, Cambodia. A golden urn containing relics of the Buddha, which was stolen in 2013 but since recovered, was returned to a mountaintop shrine here on Friday after it had been placed in capital’s Royal Palace for over two years. (Xinhua/Sovannara)
By Venerable Mahinda
The significance of Vesak lies with the Buddha and his universal peace message to mankind.
As we recall the Buddha and his Enlightenment, we are immediately reminded of the unique and most profound knowledge and insight which arose in him on the night of his Enlightenment. This coincided with three important events which took place, corresponding to the three watches or periods of the night.
During the first watch of the night, when his mind was calm, clear and purified, light arose in him, knowledge and insight arose. He saw his previous lives, at first one, then two, three up to five, then multiples of them .. . ten, twenty, thirty to fifty. Then 100, 1000 and so on…. As he went on with his practice, during the second watch of the night, he saw how beings die and are reborn, depending on their Karma, how they disappear and reappear from one form to another, from one plane of existence to another. Then during the final watch of the night, he saw the arising and cessation of all phenomena, mental and physical. He saw how things arose dependent on causes and conditions. This led him to perceive the arising and cessation of suffering and all forms of unsatisfactoriness paving the way for the eradication of all taints of cravings. With the complete cessation of craving, his mind was completely liberated. He attained to Full Enlightenment. The realisation dawned in him together with all psychic powers.
This wisdom and light that flashed and radiated under the historic Bodhi Tree at Buddha Gaya in the district of Bihar in Northern India, more than 2500 years ago, is of great significance to human destiny. It illuminated the way by which mankind could cross, from a world of superstition, or hatred and fear, to a new world of light, of true love and happiness.
The heart of the Teachings of the Buddha is contained in the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, namely,
The Noble Truth of Dukkha or suffering
The Origin or Cause of suffering
The End or Cessation of suffering
the Path which leads to the cessation of all sufferings
Meditation Master Toum Vachana
The First Noble Truth is the Truth of Dukkha which has been generally translated as ‘suffering’. But the term Dukkha, which represents the Buddha’s view of life and the world, has a deeper philosophical meaning. Birth, old age, sickness and death are universal. All beings are subject to this unsatisfactoriness. Separation from beloved ones and pleasant conditions, association with unpleasant persons and conditions, and not getting what one desires – these are also sources of suffering and unsatisfactoriness. The Buddha summarises Dukkha in what is known as the Five Grasping Aggregates.
Herein, lies the deeper philosophical meaning of Dukkha for it encompasses the whole state of being or existence.
Our life or the whole process of living is seen as a flux of energy comprising of the Five aggregates, namely the Aggregate of Form or the Physical process, Feeling, Perception, Mental Formation, and Consciousness. These are usually classified as mental and physical processes, which are constantly in a state of flux or change. Continue reading
When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon a possible. ~When Harry Met Sally
It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
In order to be happy oneself it is necessary to make at least one other person happy. — Theodor Reik
You don’t love someone because they’re perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not. ~Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper
The Buddha preaching the sermon “The wheel of law” to the band of five disciples”
16. The Buddha preaching the sermon “The wheel of law” to the band of five disciples”
Soon after the birth of the Future Buddha, eight Brahmin fortune-tellers, observed the marks and characteristics of the Future Buddha’s person. Five of these Brahmins interpreted that prince Siddhattha would unquestionably become a Buddha and with that belief, had already become ascetics. When Siddhattha retired from the world, they attended to his personal needs. Then seeing that the Future Buddha had given up extreme asceticism and gone back to the usual way of taking ordinary material food, they doubted if he would ever become a Buddha, and deserted him. Then they went and lived in the Deer Park at Isipatana near Benares.
The Blessed One, having attained the Supreme Wisdom, began his life as the Great Teacher. He first thought of the persons whom he should first aid with his teaching, and saw that these five ascetics had developed mature intellect. He therefore went to the Deer Park at Isipatana near Benares, 18 yojanas (1 yojana =about 8 miles) away from the Bodhi tree and preached his First Sermonto this “Band of Five Disciples” before sunset on the full moon day of Wazo (June-July). Kondanna was established in the first noble stage of the Ariyan Path, along with eighteen crores of higher and lower gods.
THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF BUDDHISM
by ASHIN JANAKA BHIVAMSA (Aggamahapandita)
Artist: U Ba Kyi | Link to this post
